1. Field of the Invention (Technical Field)
The present invention relates to jewelry and other clothing accessories utilizing chemiluminescence for decorative lighting.
2. Background Art
This application is directed toward an improvement in typical jewelry or clothing accessory items by use of chemiluminescent materials to illuminate the accessory. Chemiluminescence has been known to exist in nature in organisms such as fireflies. Study of those naturally existing chemiluminescent organisms led to artificial chemiluminescence as described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,597,362. U.S. Pat. No. 3,576,987 went a step further to describe a now familiar chemiluminescent device that is associated with large luminescent tubes and loops often sold at fairs and parades.
Other patents have incorporated the art of chemiluminescence in some form into jewelry items. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,061,910 discloses use of the chemiluminescent tube in the form of a closed loop designed for use as an article of jewelry, e.g. a necklace, bracelet, or ring. The patent further discloses use of an ornamental member for jewelry pieces which can be comprised of a light-transmitting material or opaque and preferably light-reflecting material used in combination with chemiluminescence, and further describes the ornamental member as comprising a flat smooth surface, a multi-faceted surface, a curved surface of any other configuration, design or representation. The '910 patent generally describes use of a chemiluminescent tube having chambers separated by a fold which, upon releasing the fold, allow mixing of chemicals achieving chemiluminescence of the tube or use of two separate holding chambers with direct placement of the chemicals within the item to achieve the luminescence. Finally, the '910 patent describes utilization of a replaceable chemiluminescent cartridge for insertion into a channel comprising a chamber for receipt of the cartridge formed in the rigid ornamental members. The '910 device uses chemiluminescent tubes as the sole ornamental portion of the jewelry or use of chemiluminescence for illuminating an ornamental article from within.
Additionally, prior art devices include a brooch as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,374,375 and earrings as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,968,357 and 3,814,926 that utilize traditional incandescent light for illumination of the jewelry items. The devices are illuminated by use of lighting fixtures encased entirely or partially within the jewelry item behind transparent materials. These devices have all the drawbacks of traditional incandescent lighting: requirement of a power source, bulk, garish lighting effects, and significant heat output. This makes them inconvenient, and in the case of heat output, sometimes dangerous for use in jewelry articles.
Prior art devices do not utilize chemiluminescent sticks for dramatic lighting techniques such as back lighting or disposing the chemiluminescent element as incorporated into the ornamental design, instead of merely lighting an ornamental element. The present invention overcomes the dangerous and inconvenient properties of prior art incandescent devices while utilizing chemiluminescence for new more dramatic jewelry lighting effects.